They Found Love
by Livyloozer
Summary: Just when they thought they would be done with all the drama and uncertainty after finishing high school, this had to happen. And it's far worse than high school ever was. Now they're stuck together as they run off and hide to stay alive, but is that necessarily the bad part? Read to find out! Set post-high school. Rated for violence, language, and suggested adult themes.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hi peoples! I'm back with a new-ish story! I say 'new-ish' because this is the story I mentioned in my 'About Me' description on my profile, the one that I started a few years ago on my Deviantart (the prologue is still there although it's been edited since then), before I got a Fanfiction account. However, I got really stuck and had to cancel it. Anyways, the fanfic started with me getting inspired by a piece of fanart called "Soaked" on Deviantart by Freyamustdie. The scene in the fanart occurs at the end of this story but there's a lot of stuff to get through first, which were completely my creation and the product of my crazy brain! I really don't know how I thought of this storyline based on that picture but whatever!**

 **But as you all know… I have to do this thing where I swear that I do not own "Hey Arnold!" or anything to do with the show so I don't get arrested and tazered I guess. Ok so again, the show is not mine so don't taze me bro! By the way, that reference happened 9 years ago! Wowzas! **

They Found Love

Chapter 1 – Prologue

"Hey! Boss, they went that way!" shouted somebody somewhere in the distance behind the two teenagers who found themselves running for their lives. Their lungs were aching, their feet were beginning to feel like lead, and both their hearts were racing while their minds were only focused on one thing: surviving. The only thing keeping them both from collapsing was pure adrenaline, and well also the fact that they were both clutching each other's hand so if one collapsed then so would the other.

Shortly, they both heard a group of footsteps just stomping on behind them. The sound started to get louder and louder as the owners of those footsteps got closer and closer.

"Let's turn here," instructed one of the teens, a boy with a strangely shaped head that closely resembled to that of a football. In fact, he had been reminded of that resemblance rather teasingly since grade school. And even though the rest of his body caught up to his head shape and size during puberty, he was still reminded to this very day by none other than the person charging alongside him and gripping tightly to his hand, a girl wearing a pink ribbon tied into a loose bow, forming a half-up kind of style, that waved furiously in time with her long, blonde hair as she ran. The boy led the girl into a sharp turn around the hallway and quickly without a word, down a flight of stairs as soon as they reached the fire exit door of that floor. Luckily, the building was so old that the fire alarms hadn't been working for years and the owner was too cheap to replace them. The boy knew that fact because he tested that theory out just the day before just in case. He was always one to plan ahead, especially in situations like these where lives were at stake.

' _Our_ lives,' he thought. He then shook the thought out of his head as quickly as it came and just tried to focus only on escaping.

They got down the stairs all the way to the first floor and were soon out the door of the side exit.

'Maybe if we keep running farther and farther outside, we can find someplace to hide again, briefly. Maybe we'll be safe. Maybe…' the girl thought but was suddenly interrupted from her thoughts by distinct shouts not too far behind.

"There they are! Get 'em, boys! Bring 'em back now!" a gruff voice barked out behind them.

'Oh no…I stand corrected. Maybe we'll never be safe. It's all too hopeless. We might never make it through this. And I never even got to tell him that I…' the girl let that thought trail off. She didn't want to go down that thought process again like she had so many times before so she tried to clear her mind and then started pushing herself a little harder, trying to run a little faster. She was suddenly going so fast that she was ahead of the boy and now leading him. This sort of motivated him to pick up his pace until they were currently running side-by-side. Their increased speed didn't seem to do much to help though, because still they were being chased and their preservers were gaining on them even more.

'I have to somehow get us to escape this. I can't fail her….I can't bear to lose….' the boy thought.

'We'll never be safe. I never got to tell him…' the girl thought to herself at about the same time the boy was lost in his own thoughts.

'What's the point in even trying? We'll never be safe…never…' both teens seemed to think simultaneously.

 **A/N: Ok so I know the first chapter was a short one but will all the other chapters be short? Definitely not! The next chapter is much longer! The general length of each chapter will vary but I'll try to make them all longer-ish, as a way to make up for the possibility of slow updates! And believe me that possibility is pretty high! Speaking of updates, the next chapter is actually done but I'm going to wait a little bit before posting it. Hopefully, that will give me time to finish another chapter or two. You see, I really want to get better at updating in a timelier manner so I want to get as much of this done as I can, especially since I go back to school in less than two weeks (*starts bursting into tears*)! Anyways, I want to try to update on a weekly basis, or at least every other week! Oh and by the way, I'm also working on a one-shot that I may post very shortly! So till then, ta-ta my peeps!**


	2. Pomp

**A/N: My first update of the new year! Now, on to the official beginning of this story, the one I started over 3 years ago but never finished…until now! Since the title of this chapter is part of the name of the song they play at graduations, that's what this chapter is about…with some backstory and other shenanigans of course! Complete with a few 'flashbacks' that randomly came to me so I just went with them! I really loved writing them! This will probably be the largest chapter for a while because of the backstory and 'flashbacks', all needed for setting the stage so-to-speak! Oh, and like the rest of the story, the flashbacks are not in a particular character's perspective.**

 **Ok so before starting, I wanted to explain the genres I labeled this story under. Like I said in my profile, this is darker than anything I've written here. Of course, it's not like there won't be any humor whatsoever. Chapter 2 has quite a bit of humor, for example. But as you know, I could only use 2 labels and the story is darker than it is humorous so there you go! And yes, this will be an emotional journey but I promise you that this story does not end on a tragic note! I'm on the fence about the labels I chose so they could change. Basically, this story will be a little bit of everything- humor, comfort, adventure, even a little romance, and tragedy!**

 **By the way, I got a guest review about chapter 1/prologue about how they thought my writing style was "very focused" and "not all over the place". I had a good chuckle over that because usually I only write "all over the place" but I guess I have improved a bit! This chapter may resemble more of my scattered self though just because it's so jam-packed full of background, flashbacks, and introductions (oh my!).**

 **Ok ok, no more babbling, here we go…but first…**

 **Must we go through this? Again? It's pretty obvious that "Hey Arnold!" is not mine! Yeah…I ran out of creative disclaimer thingy ideas for now…but I will think of more and when I do…well you'll see them I guess…I'm losing my mind… XD**

Chapter 2 – Pomp

The minds of several impatient teenagers started to wander far away from who was currently speaking at the podium on stage. The crowded room was getting hot, boys were itching to get out of their ridiculously binding ties and uncomfortable dress shoes, and girls were whispering details about where the best after-party was being held and rumors about who would be most likely to be found passed out drunk or seen doing the infamous 'walk of shame' after getting it on in a random bedroom. The prospect of what the future had in store for each and every one of the teens/young adults couldn't be any farther away from their minds than it already was at that very moment.

That was not the case however for one boy in particular, Arnold, a boy with a rather irregular shaped head. Arnold could see various visions of his future just swarming around in his head at that very moment. In fact, he was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed about it all, so much that at one point he sort of forgot how to breathe as bits and pieces of the conversation his friend Gerald was trying to have with him, reentered his mind once more, but faintly as if they were miles apart from each other, all while Arnold was somewhat drifting out of consciousness.

"…We are finally getting outta here, my man…wait…Arnold? Hey, man, you okay?...Hey! Arnold, snap outta it!" Gerald exclaimed as he shook Arnold's shoulders, trying to get him to rejoin the rest of the world. He stopped midsentence once he noticed the strange expression Arnold was wearing as well as the funny 'light display', as Gerald coined it in his mind, that was happening to Arnold's face; first a pale discoloration and now red, 'and turning purple…?!' Gerald thought but then stopped when he remembered what was normally going on whenever somebody's face was turning purple and that was when he started shaking Arnold.

Arnold felt the earth moving but then realized that something was shaking him out of his little trance. At that sudden realization, Arnold then gasped for air and started turning his head around every which way, as an attempt to figure out what was going on but whipped his head back and forth so fast that he only saw was one big blur filled with lines and figures clad in green and orange.

"It worked! Awesome! Good 'cause I really did not want to give you CPR!" Gerald exclaimed as Arnold stopped moving his head around in violent confusion and directed his gaze right in Gerald's direction. As soon as Gerald got an amused, yet slightly annoyed, eye roll from his best friend, he knew that Arnold was finally back on earth with everyone else. Well almost everyone…

Meanwhile, a couple of rows ahead of Arnold and Gerald, another soon-to-be high school graduate had their head stuck in the clouds as well. A young woman to be exact, who everyone in East Hillwood High knew exactly who she was, none other than Helga G. Pataki. Everyone in Hillwood knew her as a tomboy who used to be one of the biggest bullies during the grade school years and well into junior high and even in high school, at least to the freshmen. At that particular moment, Helga's thoughts were racing and she too was unintentionally ignoring her best friend who was under the impression that she was listening to her. Instead of the cool and smooth-talking urban legends keeper of East Hillwood High, Helga's best friend was Phoebe Heyerdahl, who was half Japanese and American, and also known as one of the smartest of the class, which was why she was voted as "Most Likely to Succeed" and was even the Class Valedictorian, while Arnold and Helga tied for second of the class. And interestingly enough, Phoebe happened to be dating Gerald. Because they had been together since junior high, their relationship was the longest one out of the whole graduating class. It was a feat that the rest of the class had agreed was equal parts impressive and adorable. Everyone knew they were meant for each other and their classmates more than tolerated them because they made sure to go easy on the PDA, out of respect for their friends, single and otherwise. Still, who would have thought that such polar opposites would be such a perfect match? Actually, no one really gave it a second thought, including the happy couple. It just felt right to everyone.

Speaking of opposites, the same can be said about Helga and Phoebe, actually. Phoebe had always been so quiet and reserved, and often considered to be kind of a pushover, especially when interacting with Helga: taking every order she dished out no questions asked. And what about Helga? Well, Helga was bold, brash, in-your-face, not afraid to stand up for what she believed in and did whatever she wanted whether it was the right thing or not. Their friendship was the real mystery of East Hillwood High but for the two friends it made perfect sense. Years ago, fifteen to be exact, Phoebe befriended Helga, mostly out of fear, but their friendship grew as time passed. Helga sort of opened up to Phoebe, usually without Helga's knowledge. Phoebe was just extremely intuitive in the fact that she has always been intelligent and so calculating. She realized that Helga's tough and harsh exterior was just that, only her exterior part, merely skin-deep and nothing more. It didn't take Phoebe too long to piece it all together: those times when Helga didn't have any lunch and just shrugged it off and claimed that she forgot, how she only referred to her parents by their first names, that forlorn look on her face whenever one of her parents forgot to pick her up or get her coat from the cleaner's that she quickly shook out and then went back to stomping around town with a big scowl plastered across her face while traces of hurt still remained in her eyes. All of that alone changed Phoebe's thoughts about Helga and immediately made her want to give her all the attention, warmth, and friendship that she had in her petite, childhood, body at that time.

Sometime later though during the grade school years, Phoebe found out that Helga's terrible home life was only the tip of the iceberg. Sure, it was a huge part of her and maybe the underlying reason why Helga had turned to bullying back in preschool, but it was not what set her off on that infamous first day of preschool. Ironically enough, it was the very thing that Helga turned to: bullying. She was being picked on about, well a very very VERY touchy subject. At that time, Helga just figured that it was easier to hide her true self by becoming the predator instead of continuing to go through life as the prey, that way no one could see her for who she really was and then get the opportunity to use that against her. She would never let anyone have that chance. Phoebe was the exception. Helga had always been very intuitive and even though she always expected the worst out of people, Helga still knew that Phoebe could be trusted. So, little by little, Helga opened up to her best friend about her deepest secret, the very one in which she used to refer to quite dramatically as being "the very reason for her existence". Who was this magical being? Well, he's the very one who's best friends with her best friend's boyfriend!

That's right, Helga had been in love with Arnold for nearly her entire life, fifteen years out of her eighteen. It all began on that faithful first day of preschool when she met the first person who was kind to her in her life up to that point. She was forced to walk to school by herself at the age of three. She was drenched with rain water, mud covered her pink overalls, her lunch was stolen by a mean junkyard dog, and she was close to the point of tears. That's when she felt an absence of rain. She looked up to find a big green umbrella over her. Confused, she looked for the owner and was face to face with a young boy her age. She searched his green eyes with a puzzled expression. But he wasn't done with his act of kindness, not at all. He then proceeded to pay her a compliment, the first one she had ever received: 'Hi, nice bow,'. Flabbergasted, she replied with a 'huh?'. He continued: 'I like your bow because it's pink like your pants,' he answered simply before closing his umbrella and entering the preschool.

Albeit, it was a little silly, but those words became ones that she cherished throughout the years. But nobody else but she and Arnold shared that moment. She doubted that Arnold would even remember he did that. Not that she blamed him of course. See, in those days, everyone would be pretty hard pressed to find a time when Helga was not scowling and waving her fists in the air, threatening to introduce 'Ol Betsy and the Five Avengers to whoever got in her way. Things would have been just fine if Helga hadn't panicked and then turned on some kind of switch and then boom, instant bully mode! But the other kids were laughing at her just for acting a little goofy. She felt she had no choice but to get mean. It was her only defense. Helga had no idea that observing her dad being a giant blowhard would actually be useful to her, but it was. In fact, she was a lot like her dad in that sense because the bully persona came so naturally to her. But there were a few key differences between her and her father: she was fully aware of what she was doing and she hated acting that way, especially because that meant she had to bully Arnold too. That about killed her a little more each day. But she knew she had to or else everyone would get suspicious. Everyone would know and it would be horrible. No matter how much she wished for it with all her heart, she knew that there was no way that Arnold could ever fall in love with such a messed up person like her, especially not after she'd been tormenting him for years. She knew that she wasn't helping her chances and yet she couldn't just stop picking on him. What was worse was that she seemed to be picking on him the most out of everyone. In some sick twisted way, she figured that would be the only way she could get close to him, though it obviously was the least ideal. It was all one vicious cycle with no end in sight.

Over the years, her bullying was pretty routine to everyone, even Arnold. But every once in a while, she would do something nice, which would only puzzle Arnold more and more. But he'd eventually forget about it or just leave well enough alone. But then, came that time when Helga secretly helped Arnold save the neighborhood, well almost secretly. He caught her near the end and pretty much demanded her to explain why she did that, which pushed her buttons enough to blurt out a confession and then actually kissed him. This of course freaked Arnold out quite a bit but he couldn't think about it too much because they had to finish saving the neighborhood after all. When it was all over, Helga and Arnold finally had a chance to talk about it, to which Arnold gave Helga an out. He let her claim it was some kind of 'heat of the moment', even though secretly he knew that was far from the truth. Honestly, he wasn't ready for that kind of information and he basically did that to buy some time. Luckily, Helga agreed and things returned to normal, well sort of.

A couple of years later, the first week of sixth grade appeared to begin like any other but there was a surprise coming. The sixth grade class was told about an essay contest, in which the winner would receive a free trip to a destination of his or her choosing for the entire class. Everyone entered but there could be only one winner. That turned out to be Arnold, which was the successful first step of his plan to find his parents. He and his entire class traveled all the way to San Lorenzo and while everyone was excited to explore the jungle and the different culture, one football-headed kid had other plans. Soon, most of his classmates found about his plans and agreed to cover for him while he ran off to look for his parents. That would have been it but a few of his classmates refused to let him go alone. Gerald sort of knew from the beginning and swore that he was coming with him and that it was non-negotiable…

 _~Flashback~_

 _"Gerald, that's great you want to go with Arnold. He shouldn't be alone. But what if you two get in some kind of trouble? This is nothing against you two boys but neither of you are natural fighters…" Phoebe of all people suddenly piped up._

 _"Look, we may not be but we can hold our own," Gerald argued, his ego was a little bruised because of Phoebe's comment._

 _"Oh dear…Gerald, I swear I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying that a three-person group is stronger than a two-person group," Phoebe explained in an apologetic tone and patted his arm. That seemed to help a little bit but Gerald was still taking it rather hard, mainly because it came from Phoebe._

 _"I think I get what Phoebe's saying. She probably just means that though you and Arnold can take care of yourselves, it could get ever so dangerous out there. You definitely need a third in your group, someone tough but equally smart and level-headed," Lila contributed to the discussion with a knowing smile towards Phoebe. She knew what Phoebe was trying to do and she figured she could help her with her plan. Phoebe gave a small grin and a secret nod in Lila's direction to say thanks._

 _"You mean like Harold?" Stinky asked as he pointed a thumb towards Harold's suddenly shocked face._

 _"M-me?" Harold asked, his tone was somewhat timid._

 _"Boy howdy, Harold would probably scream and cry for his mommy five minutes in!" Sid laughed rather obnoxiously as he mocked Harold. A few of his classmates soon joined in the laughter, though they were not nearly as loud and rowdy as Sid was._

 _"Hey!" Harold exclaimed in annoyance, even pouting a little._

 _"Well, he does have a point. Wilickers, you'd all be done for if you brought Harold!" Stinky reasoned and then joined Sid in his raucous laughter. Harold was having enough of this._

 _"No, you'd be goners if you brought the jinx!" Harold argued as he pointed a big, accusatory finger towards where he thought Eugene was. However, he was suddenly no longer there. "Uh…where's Eugene?" Harold asked in confusion._

 _"Uh…guys?"_

 _Suddenly, a voice from above caused the group of sixth graders to look up and sure enough there was Eugene hanging upside down from a tree. The bottom half of his body was held rather tightly by a snake. Everyone gasped at the sight._

 _"I'm ok! Well, for now…could someone help please…" Eugene replied, his optimistic nature and his breath support were starting to subside as the constrictor kept squeezing._

 _As everyone was looking around amongst each other, trying to see who would be the brave soul to actually save Eugene, another sound broke out in the jungle, only this time it was a collection of psychotic laughs and screams of bravado. The owner of those noises came to light. It was none other than Curly, who was strangely enough dressed like Tarzan. He was perched on the tree branch that the snake was wrapped around while holding Eugene, who was dangling just below. With a sound that resembled closely to a battle cry, Curly jumped up and down on the snake until the animal couldn't hold on and had to let go of Eugene to maintain its balance. Luckily, because Eugene was let go at an angle, he landed right into Sheena's arms. After her initial shock wore off, she smiled and hugged Eugene for a few seconds and then gently put him down. Eugene then tried to stand up but then forgot that he would probably lose all feeling in his legs so he was down on the ground a half second later._

 _"Oh, Eugene!" Sheena exclaimed, slightly panicked._

 _"I'm ok…" Eugene replied. Sheena was smiling again._

 _Meanwhile, Curly wasn't finished with that snake. He picked up the huge boa constrictor and then flung it several feet away. The display was pretty spectacular to the sixth graders._

 _"Curly should go!" shouted nearly the entire sixth grade class in unison, all except Phoebe, Lila, Arnold, Gerald, and Helga, who was being rather quiet during all of this. She knew what Phoebe was up to. However, she didn't really know how she felt about it so she decided to just be silent for a while and let everything play out. Of course, she was relieved to find that someone else was elected, although this news also disappointed her at the same time. It was rather complicated._

 _Suddenly, Curly started laughing maniacally and then ran off the tree branch to help him get a running start so he could grab a vine of a nearby tree. He continued to laugh like a crazy person while swinging on vines until he was completely out of sight._

 _The class didn't even have a chance to shake their heads in disbelief when Curly randomly returned on a vine that was low enough for him to be near everyone at ground level, though not too low for him to be at risk of colliding into the ground or anything._

 _"Almost forgot my Jane!" Curly explained and before anyone could ask what he meant by that, he quickly scooped up Rhonda and went back to swinging off into the sunset. Rhonda's screams for him to put her down and that her father would be hearing about this quickly became more and more distant._

 _The rest of the sixth graders just stood there in silence, completely stunned. After what seemed like forever, somebody finally spoke up after just being a mere observer during this whole ordeal._

 _"Poor twisted little freak…you know, we need to tell our teacher about this, which I gotta hand it to that nutjob. He just became the perfect distraction for Football Head and Tall Hair Boy. They can go off into the jungle unnoticed. Meanwhile, the chaperones have to find the princess and the missing link!" Helga reasoned as she gave a half smirk and crossed her arms. Helga's expression shortly changed to one of confusion though as she noticed most of her classmates were exchanging knowing looks with each other._

 _"We vote Helga to go!" collectively exclaimed about the same number of classmates who just voted for Curly mere minutes ago._

 _"Helga!?" Arnold exclaimed in shock, even though the idea immediately started to make some sense to him._

 _"Helga?!" Gerald exclaimed, even more shocked than Arnold was._

 _"Me?! Now, wait a minute. You all gotta be out of your minds!" Helga argued, just as shocked as Arnold and Gerald were, even though things were almost heading in this direction earlier. Helga thought she was safe though, boy was she wrong. Secretly though, Helga couldn't help but be a little happy to be elected to be a part of Arnold's quest, on his team, standing by his side._

 _"Well, who else would actually think of what Curly just did as a good distraction?" Sid asked rather matter-of-factly._

 _"That does mean you can be quite strategic," Phoebe piped up with a small smile, which was immediately wiped off her face when a low growl from Helga was made towards Phoebe._

 _"And you're strong! You're like one of the guys!" Harold offered, to which an even louder growl from Helga was heard soon after, this time it was for Harold._

 _"You should go with them, Helga, on accounta the fact that you won't break down and head for the hills like Harold would!" Stinky reasoned._

 _"Yeah...wait a minute…hey!" Harold exclaimed in annoyance after finally understanding Stinky's comment._

 _"So, it's decided. Helga will go with Arnold and Gerald and-" Lila began to sum up some kind of plan when she was interrupted._

 _"I am doing no such thing!" Helga interrupted rather harshly. She was scowling and her arms never left their crossed position._

 _That definitely got everyone's attention. All eyes were on Helga, which was making her uncomfortable. 'Me and my big mouth', Helga reprimanded herself for even getting into this situation in the first place, and yet she was happy that she did. Crazy, dramatic stuff._

 _"I'm not going. I don't even remember agreeing to this," Helga argued stubbornly as she pouted. Truth be told, of course she wanted to go but nobody could know that. Honestly, Helga was racking her brain for a good excuse to volunteer herself. She was coming up empty when the class elected her._

 _"While I don't really want you coming along, Helga, I see their point," replied Gerald. Helga couldn't believe her ears that Gerald was siding with everyone else. She and him never really got along so she figured that his reason had to have been a pretty good one. She decided to humor him._

 _"And why is that, Geraldo?" Helga asked, her voice had a fake bored tone to it._

 _"Well, it pains me to say it but your skills will probably come in handy if you joined us, probably more so than if you stayed here," Gerald reasoned. Helga was shocked. 'He had a point there but would that be enough for me to cave in without anyone getting suspicious?', Helga wondered to herself._

 _"Ok, ok. When you put it that way, it seems like you two bozos will be lost without me and I don't need that on my conscious so fine, whatever. I'll come along for your sakes. But don't say I never did any of you any favors!" Helga exclaimed as she finally conceded. Arnold, Gerald, and the whole sixth grade class appeared to take Helga's answer as one that was pretty much expected. Helga gave an internal sigh of relief._

 _As Helga walked forward to join the two boys, a thought came to her that made her stop. She turned around and went to Phoebe's side._

 _"I'll go but only if Phoebe comes with me," Helga stated seriously as she began to slowly pull Phoebe with her._

 _"M-me? But why?" Phoebe asked in shocked confusion, although she had an idea as to why Helga wanted her there with her. Helga knew she wasn't the only one wanting Phoebe there. Unbeknownst to Phoebe, Helga could've sworn she saw the tiniest hint of a smile appear and then quickly fade from Gerald's face. Helga knew all about the crush that Phoebe and Gerald both had on each other. Of course, that wasn't why Helga enlisted Phoebe but she saw it as a good incentive for Phoebe to agree and come along._

 _"Because you're the only one I know besides Football Head who actually researched San Lorenzo when we all found out we were coming here. You know a lot more about what we'll be dealing with than the rest of us put together. Your knowledge will probably be useful," Helga explained. Then she leaned down to Phoebe's ear and made sure to add something that would be reserved for Phoebe's ears only._

 _"And besides, I need a buffer here. Who else can I count on to keep me in line and make sure I stay somewhere between a total heartless jerk and a big sappy puddle?" Helga whispered to Phoebe, her voice was somewhat pleading. She then leaned back and gave Phoebe a look that appeared free from any expression at first glance. But Phoebe could see a scared look in Helga's eyes. Phoebe's face softened and she answered Helga in the form of a nod._

 _Meanwhile, the others were pretty oblivious to their little exchange but before anyone could really question it though, a voice suddenly broke the silence._

 _"Wow, I didn't think of that but that's really true. Yeah, we definitely need you on our side, Phoebe. She's right, Helga. You are quite strategic and we really need you too!" Arnold stated with complete sincerity and astonishment._

 _"Can it, Football Head! I already agreed. No need to butter me up. Yeesh. Now let's go! We're burning daylight here!" Helga quipped gruffly as she walked on past Arnold and Gerald with Phoebe not too far behind her, all the while trying to hold in a lovesick sigh._

 _Helga couldn't believe it. Arnold complimented her and said he needed her, more or less. As much as she was elated by his words, she was dreading the thought of being near him if he was going to keep doing that, to which she had no control of. That meant that she could have trouble keeping her lovesick thoughts in her head. 'Oh criminy, this will be one long journey…what did I just sign up for?' Helga thought in exasperation and slight terror as the four of them walked out into the jungle together._

 _~End Flashback~_

During their trek in the jungle, the four sixth graders managed to locate and rescue Arnold's parents, as well as narrowly escape the evil clutches of La Sombra. Before saving his parents though, there was a moment when Arnold and Helga were hiding from La Sombra's henchmen and were briefly separated from Gerard and Phoebe. Being in close proximity with Helga caused Arnold to reflect on all the things Helga had done for him during their adventure, like when Arnold tripped and scratched his arm pretty bad, resulting in Helga cleaning his wound and then wrapping his arm with her own hair ribbon. She even helped him from time to time long before going to San Lorenzo. He had no idea he was staring at her until Helga noticed and pointed it out.

 _~Flashback~_

 _"Something on your mind, Football Head?" Helga asked. Even though she used her signature nickname for him, her tone was free from malice and instead was just filled with confusion and slight fear._

 _In response, Arnold's expression was a pensive one, indicating that he was probably contemplating something and was trying to figure out whether or not he should act on what he was thinking of doing._

 _"Arnold…?" a worried Helga asked hesitantly, trying to get Arnold's attention. She then shook him a little to just help him snap out of whatever internal argument he got himself into. That seemed to do the trick._

 _"What…? Oh, sorry, Helga," Arnold apologized and chuckled nervously._

 _"Arnold, we're going to find your parents. I promise you that I'll do everything to make sure of that," Helga vowed softly with a small but serious smile as she put a reassuring hand on one of his shoulders. She thought she knew the reason behind Arnold's thoughtful expression, that he was worried about their plan for rescuing his parents. She figured that she would try her hand at reassuring him and hopefully he would feel a little better. But just as she was about to take her hand off his shoulder though, he suddenly put one of his own hands over hers to hold it there. A confused and slightly worried expression was then on Helga's face._

 _'Maybe that's not what's on his mind, but then what else could it be?' Helga wondered to herself, unaware of the fact that she was about to find out the answer soon enough._

 _"Ok, you have my full attention. What's really up with you?" Helga asked with a small smirk, though her eyes were still clouded in confusion._

 _"Um…well, it's just that I…I…," Arnold was scrambling his brain for an answer. Helga caught him a bit off guard with that question. He kept his head down and just kept breathing deeply, worried that Helga was getting annoyed with him and he didn't want to see whatever look she was giving him. A few seconds later, he couldn't help himself and finally he mustered enough courage to look up and into her eyes. What he saw really threw him off. Her look wasn't one of impatience but instead it was one of concern. Of course, what she did next was even more surprising. Suddenly, Arnold felt himself being pulled into Helga's arms. She started shushing him and stroking his back._

 _"There, there. It's going to be ok. We will find your parents. You have my word. So, let's get to it, ok?" Helga reassured him. At that point, Arnold returned her embrace and found this change from her 'normal' kind of behavior to be quite nice, which only confused him more._

 _"Arnold! Helga! Something's over here. You gotta check this out!" Gerald's voice was suddenly heard several feet away. This seemed to jolt the two blondes back to reality, for now. Helga got up first and extended a hand for Arnold to grab. He seemed a little hesitant to take her hand at first, though that moment of hesitancy was too quick for Helga to truly take notice. She thought she was just seeing things anyways. Arnold took Helga's hand soon enough and in an instant the two blondes were both standing. They quickly ran off together to see what the commotion was about._

 _~End Flashback~_

Back at the camp area, when his parents suggested he stay in San Lorenzo while they finished their work to save the Green-Eyed people, Arnold started thinking about how he'd miss everyone, and he realized that next to Gerard and his family back home, he'd miss Helga most of all. He decided that he had to tell her that while he still had the chance, so on the evening before everyone else returned to Hillwood, he planned to do just that.

 _~Flashback~_

 _"Arnold, why did you bring me here?" a puzzled Helga asked after the two of them finally came to a stop from their little walk away from the camp site._

 _"I wanted to talk, just us. I wanted you to be the first to know," Arnold answered truthfully. Truth be told, Arnold was stalling a bit regarding what he had to tell Helga. He wasn't just worried about her reaction but he also just didn't want to tell. If that wasn't bad enough, he finally realized why he was so reluctant, though he still didn't have a firm handle on it. But still, the timing was downright terrible!_

 _"The first to know what? Arnold, you are kind of worrying me," Helga asked. True to her word, her tone and expression both showed that she was only confused but also a bit anxious about where Arnold was taking this conversation, though she was unsure why just yet. She just didn't have a good feeling about this, not at all._

 _"When everyone leaves to go back to Hillwood in the morning I will not be going with you," Arnold answered, which sounded a bit rushed. He figured that it would be better to come right out with it and get it done quick._

 _'Like ripping off a bandage,' he thought to himself. That thought suddenly reminded him of Helga's ribbon still wrapped around his arm. He wondered if she would want it back and that if she did then he would be very reluctant about returning it._

 _"What?" Helga asked, unsure if she was understanding him correctly or not._

 _'I knew it…' Helga thought to herself as she trailed off. She couldn't bear to finish that thought and just dwell on the negatives. Instead, she focused all her energy on listening to Arnold while fighting the urge to cry._

 _"My parents still have their work to finish and they want me to stay with them. And I said yes," Arnold said rather slowly this time as he rubbed the back of his head nervously while avoiding Helga's gaze._

 _"Oh, well yeah sure. Makes sense that you don't want to leave them after just finding them…" Helga trailed off. There was logic in Arnold's explanation, yet Helga somehow found several things wrong with it anyways._

 _'For one thing, we won't even be in the same time zone anymore,' Helga thought glumly. She was about to torture herself with similar thoughts when Arnold began to speak again._

 _"Yeah, I know but I'm not sure when I'll be back. My parents don't even know that for sure. I'm really going to miss everyone. But I think, next to Gerald and my family back home, I'll miss you most of all, Helga," Arnold answered while his gaze darted around the jungle until it finally centered on Helga's face. His tone was nervous but truthful._

 _"M-me? Has the jungle made you crazy? You're seriously going to miss the 'Move it, Football Head!', the spitballs, and the constant teasing and pranks?" Helga joked as an attempt to still her erratically thumping heart and steady her nerves that went haywire as a result of what she was hearing._

 _"Well it does sound crazy when you put it that way, but yeah. Although, that's not all I'll miss," Arnold added rather vaguely, giving Helga a knowing look. Helga had a general idea that he was referring to her 'warm gooey center' so-to-speak. Of course, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting that such a side did exist._

 _"You think there's more of me then that? Well, you're sadly mistaken, Paste-for-Brains!" Helga countered, albeit forcefully. Her bully façade coming in full swing nonetheless._

 _"Helga…" Arnold answered, getting a little impatient._

 _"Ok, ok. Yeesh. You caught me," Helga conceded as she threw her hands up in mock surrender before suddenly shaking her head in amusement, "So I can be a little nice every now and then and heck, I sure saved your butt quite a few times while we were here. You know I don't want people messing with me so that's why I act the way I do. I'm complicated like that, you know," Helga explained while crossing her arms and having a rather defiant stance._

 _"Yeah, but it doesn't have to be that way," Arnold reasoned gently._

 _"Huh? What are you talking about?" Helga asked, playing dumb, though she knew exactly what he was hinting at._

 _"I want you to promise me something," Arnold replied simply while looking intently into Helga's eyes._

 _"And what would that be?" Helga asked shyly, turning away from Arnold's gaze. She thought that his intense gaze was getting to be too much but then her heart really went into overdrive when she suddenly felt him take hold of her hands. Her eyes suddenly widened in shock and she felt like her heart was going to break through her chest._

 _"I want you to promise me as the years go by, you'll make an effort to mellow out and not be so mean, that you'll channel your anger into more positive outlets. You can be nicer to others without feeling like you have to be someone else, like some floor mat. I don't want that for you either but I want you to handle things better. So, can you please just try?" Arnold requested sincerely as he gave Helga's hands a gentle squeeze. His eyes bore a pleading look and he had a small but hopeful smile on his face. In that moment, Helga knew only one thing for certain: that all Arnold had to do was give her that look and she would be doing his bidding in no time._

 _"Oh, alright. I'll give it a try. Man, even though you're gonna be stuck in the jungle, you're still gonna make it your mission to continue being my voice of reason, aren't you?" Helga giggled a little at that rhetorical question but she was half serious after all._

 _"Haha, guilty!" Arnold responded playfully._

 _'And I wouldn't have it any other way,' Helga thought to herself with an internal swoon._

 _"That's what I figured. Well, thanks," Helga answered quickly, suddenly feeling quite awkward._

 _"For what?" Arnold asked. Now it was his turn to be the confused one._

 _"For caring. For being one of the few who actually do, though that's my own fault. Don't make go into more detail. You already know it anyways," Helga answered rather shyly._

 _"You're welcome, Helga," Arnold answered with a kind smile, but then his expression quickly changed to a nervous one for what he was about to say next, "Um…Helga?" he continued hesitantly._

 _"Yeah?" Helga replied and looked up in curiosity only to be met with Arnold's arms wrapped tightly around her. Needless to say, she was in shock._

 _"I really am going to miss you. More than you'll know," Arnold stated quietly and rather sadly. That caused Helga's shock to wear off and her expression to soften though the rest of her was still pretty tense._

 _"I'll miss you too, Arnold but I'll deny it if anyone asks. After all, did you forget who you're talking to here?" Helga said honestly and then ended her response on a slight humorous note. She then pulled back and gave Arnold a sly smile. Her ending comment caused Arnold to give a secret smirk right back, which immediately made Helga confused._

 _"No, I could never accomplish that. You are pretty unforgettable, Helga, not that I'd ever want to, though," Arnold said rather vaguely, that secret smirk still on his face. At this point, the same question was swirling around in his mind, just waiting for an answer._

 _'Should I do this?' he thought to himself for the umpteenth time now. This time, he finally decided to answer his own question and just go for it._

 _"What on earth are you talking ab-mmm?! Mmmm…" Before Helga could finish her question, she felt Arnold's lips pressed tightly against hers. She heard Arnold give a soft sigh and that caused her to just give in before he realized what he was doing and then start screaming and running for the hills…or well actually the jungle to be more exact. Helga then wrapped her arms around Arnold's waist, closing in what little distance there was left between them._

 _"Hey guys, what's…what are you doing?!" Suddenly, Gerald appeared and was gawking at them, completely in disbelief about what he was seeing. Both blondes were brought back to reality pretty quickly._

 _"Um…uh…well…you see…" Arnold, who was the first to come back to reality, or at least enough to be able to answer, though he was still struggling to find words. A second later, he found the ability to speak again coherently, or at least better than before._

 _"Umm…well, Helga was choking and she needed…uh…CPR! Yeah, that's it! CPR! So I figured I'd help her. And look, all better now so yeah…" Arnold managed to respond, mentally kicking himself about his answer the whole way through. As soon as he finished, he shyly had his head titled down and then attempted to run off, but Helga caught him by the back of his shirt collar._

 _"Whoa, whoa, whoa. And where do you think you're going? You don't get to run off and leave me hanging here!" Helga exclaimed as she stared Arnold down with mock anger. She briefly glanced towards Gerald, whose mouth was still agape in shock by the way. She knew she had to come up with some kind of excuse of her own and fast._

 _"Wherever you're going, don't you think I should tag along? In case I need your_ help _again, I mean?" Helga inquired, giving Arnold a knowing look, as well as special emphasis on the word 'help'. Arnold could be dense at times but this time he definitely got the message._

 _"Oh yeah. You're right. Good thinking. Let's go," Arnold said embarrassedly but with just a little more courage this time. Helga was fighting the smile her lips were trying to make in response. She could feel herself blushing madly about the promise of what was going to happen again._

 _"Whatever you say, Football Head," Helga replied simply. She realized that was usually Arnold's line but she felt that was fitting for the situation. Then she bravely grabbed his hand and proceeded to drag him away before he thought about what he agreed to and decided to take it all back. Of course, the likelihood of that was small but Helga didn't want to take any chances._

 _After spending a minute or so to process all that he just witnessed, Gerald was finally able to close his mouth. He then crossed his arms and shook his head._

 _"Mmm-mmm-mmmh! He sure is a bold kid," Gerald stated in a mix of amusement and shock before walking all the way back to camp, in the opposite direction as Helga and Arnold of course._

 _~End Flashback~_

 **A/N: Just to clear things up, I know that Lila is not going to be in the Jungle Movie but I wrote that first 'flashback' of everyone in the jungle before Craig officially announced that and she was kind of important to that part so I didn't change it. I just didn't make her a part of the graduating class. The story on that, well my version at least, is that after San Lorenzo, she moved. And Craig said she moved before that…so close enough!**

 **Update: This is only half of chapter 2 now. I decided to split it up so chapter 3 is the other half!**


	3. And Circumstance

**A/N: No this isn't an actual update. I decided to break chapter 2 in half because it was such a long read. Sorry about that and for the confusion! I am still working on chapter 3 (or I guess chapter 4 now haha), which I may split that one up too!**

 **"Hey Arnold!" is not mine. The end.**

Chapter 3 – And Circumstance

Arnold lived in San Lorenzo for five years and then returned to Hillwood with his parents. Both Miles and Stella agreed that Arnold should finish out his last two years of high school back in the states and they also figured it was time they returned home too. Arnold was excited. He was looking forward to being reunited with his grandparents, the boarders, and his friends. Among his friend group, Arnold was the most curious about one person in particular, a certain pink bow-wearing person to be exact. Things just fizzled out before they even really began and he just wanted to see what his feelings were concerning her these days. Arnold never stopped thinking about Helga. He was always wondering if life ever got better for her, what she was up to lately, and though he would deny it if anyone asked but he also wanted to know what she now looked like. He just attributed his curiosity to the fact that out of all his friends, he knew the least about Helga. He wrote to her a few times but she never wrote back. He tried asking about her in a letter to Gerald once but the only thing he mentioned about Helga was that she was the same Helga G. Pataki, though not as cruel. After a while, he finally decided to write Phoebe and ask her, but while making her promise not to tell Helga he was asking about her. He didn't really know why he requested that. His best guess was on the off-chance that Helga would refuse to let Phoebe reply if she knew.

Luckily, Phoebe assured Arnold that Helga was unaware of his letter to her. In the letter she wrote back to him, she gave Arnold a short but detailed description of how Helga was doing. She and Phoebe were still the best of friends. Her home life wasn't so messed up anymore. Her mother finally admitted her problem with alcohol and agreed to go to AA meetings. Her father was taking anger management classes, even though they were court-ordered because he publicly berated both his wife and Helga one day. But despite that little detail, Big Bob Pataki was calmer these days and acknowledged Helga's existence more. He even called her "Olga" by accident less often and instead used her real name. In her letter, Phoebe seemed particularly proud of Helga's literary talents. Apparently, she won a few local writing competitions and even petitioned to start a writing club in school and was now the club's president. Helga was part of the drama club as well. Helga also mellowed out quite a bit and was no longer a bully but that didn't mean she was a pushover either. She still held her own but only when she needed to or when someone else needed it. She was known to break up a few unfair fights between jerk upperclassmen and some poor defenseless freshman here and there. It seemed that any pent-up frustration was mostly channeled through volleyball. And even though she was in all those clubs, her grades were never negatively affected because of it. In fact, she was top of her class, well actually second to Phoebe of course! Arnold somehow felt a unique sense of pride because it seemed like Helga was really following through on the promise he made her accept years ago during their last night in the jungle.

It was two years before Arnold moved back to Hillwood when he received Phoebe's letter. As he first approached her in the halls of East Hillwood High, he wondered how much of Helga was the same as Phoebe described in her letter. He hoped there weren't that many big changes since that letter. But after all, two years is enough time for something else to happen. Still though, he hoped to be all caught up for some reason. He knew he should've wrote Phoebe again but it was way too late.

As he got closer to Helga, he was almost taken aback by the blonde girl he saw before him. She was Helga alright but she sure changed in appearance. For starters, she was taller. She also had a pair of thick eyebrows instead of her monobrow. Her pink jumper was long gone and was replaced with a pair of holey jeans, a faded pink band T-shirt that hung off one shoulder, and a pair of worn pink sneakers. On her head was a black knit hat and instead of her pink bow being a ribbon, it was a clip-on attached to the side of her hat. Arnold figured that she must've replaced her pink hair ribbon because he noticed her wearing one only this time it was tied around one of her wrists. Even her hairstyle had changed. It was longer and though in pigtails, they hung low and straight vertically instead of sticking straight out in their usual horizontal fashion during her childhood. Though it looked like Helga didn't put much effort into her appearance, Arnold thought she looked good. He thought her new look suited her. He hung onto that thought as he got closer and closer to her locker.

 _~Flashback~_

 _1st day of Junior year_

 _"Hey, Helga," Arnold called to her naturally, a warm smile on his face. It was as if he just saw her yesterday. Helga's ears perked up and her eyes briefly widened at that voice, mainly because she realized who that particular voice belonged to. Luckily, she was not facing him because if he noticed her bewildered expression, she would be even more mortified. Aware that she had to respond soon, Helga took a deep breath to compose herself before turning around to face him._

 _"So, the rumors are true, huh? The good 'ol Football Head is back in the flesh! So, sick of the jungle already?" Helga quipped, not missing a beat, after turning around to a voice that was as familiar as it was different. Her tone was friendly and returned his smile with a smirk of her own. She was relieved that she showed no sign of her previous nerves._

 _"Yes, I'm back," Arnold answered and then chuckled in response to Helga's little joke, "No, not really. San Lorenzo was great. My parents just figured I should come back for my junior and senior year. So, how've you been, Helga?" Arnold asked, flashing her a warm smile._

 _"Oh, same old, Football Head, same old," Helga replied nonchalantly but inside, she was finding it hard to stay strong against Arnold's usual kind and good-natured instincts. It turns out she was still drawn to them, not that she ever doubted that._

 _"That's good. You still playing volleyball? How about your drama and writing clubs?" Arnold asked with evident interest, the same genuine smile still on his face clear as day._

 _"Yeah, I'm still doing all that-," Helga started to answer normally but then stopped herself upon realization, "Wait a minute. How'd you know about the clubs I was in? Did you have spies working for you, jungle boy?" Helga accused with one hand on her hip, her tone only half-annoyed. Even though she was kind of joking with him as well, she was still not too happy about him going behind her back to find out what she was up to. Not only did she feel violated, she was beyond confused about why he felt the need to do that. However, she was not going to entertain the crazy notion that he still felt something. She knew that was nothing more than puppy love and tried her best to move on._

 _"Well, yes and no. I wrote to Phoebe about two years ago. Please don't be mad at her. I heard from everyone except you and you never wrote me back. I just wanted to see what you've been up to," Arnold explained a bit frantically. Helga just looked kind of betrayed just then that he desperately wanted her to understand that what he did had no ill intent behind it._

 _Helga had to stifle a giggle in response to Arnold's frantic explanation, which she definitely did not want to slip through. She wasn't really that mad anymore anyways, since she knew full well that he would never go behind her back to hurt her._

 _'So, he wanted to know how she was doing while he was in San Lorenzo. Big deal! I was serious when I agreed with that promise he wanted me to make with him about showing my nicer self. Therefore, I'm sticking to that and I'll just let this go. Maybe we can be friends. I'd be ok with that. I mean. It's better than nothing,' Helga concluded that thought with a deep and rather forlorn sigh, followed by an amused shake of her head._

 _"Well, I guess I can't fault you there. Ok, you're both forgiven. Sorry I never replied. I'm not much of a pen pal. And I sort of had my own stuff to work through but I'm ok now," Helga replied with a small smile at that last part. This caused Arnold to smile in return._

 _"That's really good, Helga," Arnold replied, his eyes clearly showing that he something else on his mind. Helga just looked at him and waited for him to get whatever else was on his mind out in the open._

 _"Hey," Arnold continued after finding the courage to just ask Helga what he had been practicing saying in different ways since earlier that morning, "What are you doing afterschool? I was wondering if you wanted to-"_

 _Before Arnold could finish his question though, someone came up behind him and interrupted him._

 _"Hey, babe," Helga looked to the new voice and smiled naturally when she identified who the voice belonged to._

 _"Hey yourself," Helga teased but playfully. This person then walked around Arnold to stand beside Helga. He then put an arm around her waist as he planted a quick kiss to the crook of her neck. Helga giggled lightly in response. Whoever this guy was, he then turned and officially noticed Arnold. The two teenage boys recognized each other immediately. Arnold couldn't believe what he was seeing._

 _"Football face! Long time, no see!" exclaimed the guy suddenly attached to Helga's hip, smiling broadly._

 _"Hey, Wolfgang. Yeah, I was living in San Lorenzo with my parents but now we're all back," Arnold said civilly, feeling like that took a lot of energy to sound civil, though he was not sure why it was._

 _"Nice," he nodded with a smile before returning his attention back to Helga, "Well, you ready for me to walk you to class, babe?" he asked sincerely._

 _"Yup. Let's go. Catch ya later, Football Head," Helga smiled and led Wolfgang away from her locker. He still had his arm around her waist like he possessed her or something._

 _'That was more like a nickname and less like an insult. In fact, that conversation went well, a little too well…I wonder why…' Arnold thought, worriedly. 'Wait…of course! She's dating someone so that must mean…she's over me now? Oh, why do I care, anyways? I mean, it's not like I…not after all these years…oh no…' Arnold's thoughts continued to swirl in his mind every which way, although in the end they all came to the same conclusion, that he still had feelings for Helga. There was only one small problem: she was already in a relationship, and not just any relationship. She was dating Wolfgang! Of all the guys in the school, did it really have to be their childhood enemy? Arnold tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had mellowed out too, like Helga. That seemed to be the case, based on what Arnold had seen already. Of course, this didn't mean that he was going to stop worrying about Helga and making sure she was ok every now and then._

 _And then, several seconds later, Arnold saw Helga look back at him as she continued walking forward with Wolfgang. She even smiled at him. It was just for a second but he knew what he saw. She seemed like a nicer and more easy-going version of herself but still as feisty as ever. His heart swelled with pride when he found out that she really kept her promise. A small wave of hope even washed over him._

 _'Well…maybe,' Arnold began to think to himself as he put his hand in his pocket to feel the pink, silk, slightly blood-stained and tattered ribbon, 'maybe someday…maybe someday…' Arnold just couldn't finish that though. He honestly was still a little unsure about his feelings, about how far they went exactly. He figured that he had some time to sort that out though. One thing he knew for certain was that he wished he had written Phoebe again before he moved back to Hillwood._

 _~End Flashback~_

And here they were at their graduation, two more years later. Both blonde-headed teens still having feelings for one another but neither of them were aware of the other's feelings. Even though Helga was still with Wolfgang, she couldn't deny her love for Arnold and she certainly had tried. Honestly, the only reason she agreed to go out with Wolfgang was so she could try getting over Arnold, when it was clear that he wasn't coming back anytime soon. In all honesty, Helga was a little glad that Arnold was all the way in Central America, even though it was still pure agony without him. For one thing, she was happy he was finally reunited with his parents again. But most of all, she was glad that she didn't have to keep up the 'I hate Arnold' charade anymore. If any of her friends brought him up during lunch or something, she'd just nod but wouldn't add anything to the conversation. No one else but Phoebe questioned that anyways. It felt wonderful to no longer feel obligated to pick on him mercilessly since he wasn't even in the same continent anymore.

Anyways, her plan to distract herself worked, well sort of, at least for a while, until Arnold came back along with the constant reminder that she was always going to be in love with him. And besides, after a while, her and Wolfgang appeared to be quite sweet on each other and that generally was the case. However, some of it seemed to be for appearances, mostly just the times when Helga pretended nothing was wrong. Wolfgang never treated Helga badly or anything like that. But it was just that some of the things he surrounded himself with were a little questionable, from the things he did to the people he was seen with. Helga didn't have much to go on but she felt that something shady was going on nonetheless. She didn't know much nor did she really want to know. But there was something eating at her, this feeling that didn't sit well with her. She knew that she probably should've left a while ago, as soon as she first got that feeling, but she didn't. She stayed where she was. She stayed with him, in ignorance and something else that sure wasn't bliss. A good word for it would probably be 'convenience'. Besides, that feeling never grew, never got worse. So Helga felt that she was ok, that it was all ok, at least for now.

Suddenly, scattered applause could be heard around the general audience in the school's gymnasium, signaling that the keynote speaker the school found for the ceremony, was done. Honestly, there were very few among the student body who were truly listening.

As the keynote speaker finished and began walking off the stage, the principal, Mr. Crater, started clapping, as his gaze bore down on the student body below him, indicating that that was their cue to start clapping too. The soon-to-be high school graduates got the hint and a continued chorus of rather forced applause filled the gymnasium.

"Now, I'd like to welcome our class valedictorian, Phoebe Heyerdahl, to the stage," Mr. Crater announced. Upon hearing her cue, Phoebe stood up and began walking towards the stage stairs, a shy but proud smile on her face. The applause accompanying Phoebe's entrance was much more heartfelt, with even a cheer and a whistle being heard from none other than her best friend, Helga. Phoebe was well-respected among her peers, especially by those who have been in school with her since those preschool days. However, that wasn't to say that her peers didn't take advantage of her timid and quiet nature every now and then. This day was no exception.

As soon as Phoebe got in front of the podium, her classmates became rowdy again and started talking amongst themselves, paying no mind to her standing before them. Not everyone was engaged in conversations, though. Phoebe already had the attention of three of her classmates: Helga, Gerald, and Arnold. Those three smiled at her intently, genuinely eager to what she had to say. Phoebe was truly grateful for their support in that moment. However, the fact that no one else was paying her the same curtesy was not calming her nerves at all. In fact, that made her more nervous.

"Um…excuse me? I said excuse me…Oh dear…" Phoebe exclaimed quietly to herself as she trailed off. She tried to get her classmates attention and succeed in getting a little louder but it was no use. Nobody besides Helga, Gerald, and Arnold seemed to care.

Phoebe was never that good at demanding attention from crowds of people, well other than that one time in fourth grade when she was the hall monitor, of course. Phoebe then thought of that time and an idea instantly came to her. She sent a secret look towards Helga as if she was asking a private question. Helga immediately got the message and replied with a nod, a wide and sly smile, and then a thumbs up, which was all her way of telling Phoebe to go for it. Phoebe then gave a smile and a nod in return before attempting once again to capture the attention of her fellow classmates.

"Yo, halt!" Phoebe shouted, extremely out of character. Most of her classmates stopped talking to see who just shouted. But once they discovered it was Phoebe, they mostly just erupted into laughter for a moment. This sight began to make someone quite angry. That person was not Phoebe believe it or not.

"Hey, you chuckleheads, shut the hell up! Phoebe's trying to speak. Have some damn respect!" Erupted Helga as she stood up and turned to face her rude classmates. Both her voice and expression were quite impatient and seething in anger towards the way the majority of the class was treating her best friend.

"Miss Pataki, stop that this instance or I'll-" the principal began to reprimand Helga but was cut off.

"Or you'll what? Expel me? News flash, Crater, I'm already done with this _wonderful institution_ and I'll be out of your hair soon, or at least out of what's left of it!" Helga retorted back then crossed her arms and smirked, earning applause and cheers from her classmates in approval. Helga, who was originally quite peeved at them, turned back to the class and began bowing in mock appreciation. They weren't even offended that she yelled at them earlier. Any anger they once harbored was replaced with them being impressed with her for challenging the principal's authority like that. They were generally used to this kind of behavior from Helga but knew she would only act like that to defend herself or those she cared about. But after all, no one really likes to be yelled at!

One classmate in particular was not upset over Helga's angry outburst and was instead in awe over the whole thing. That classmate was Arnold. Though he wasn't entirely happy about Helga's attitude, he was in awe over the fact that she used her tough and crass behavior, which had greatly lessened over the years, to help somebody instead of using it against them.

"Not soon enough," the balding principal muttered to himself, as he sat back down in his seat behind the podium, clearly disgruntled. Honestly, Mr. Crater knew that Helga was one of EHHS's best students but it was her calloused attitude he couldn't stand. He knew her heart was in the right place this time around though. It was because of that reason that he decided to let that outburst slide. Well, that and the fact that he was going to be rid of her very shortly anyways.

Before she sat down, Helga gestured an arm towards Phoebe, signaling to her best friend that the floor was finally hers. Phoebe beamed at her best friend in gratitude.

"My fellow classmates," Phoebe began, who was more confident and vocal this time around, "I'd like to congratulate all of us for what we have all accomplished. I don't know about you, but I didn't think I could get through high school. As we all know, getting through high school in one piece is no simple task. And yet we all made it. Soon, we'll all embark on new adventures and challenges that are likely to be more difficult than high school. But we'll get through them too. Because after surviving high school, I know that all of us can make it through just about anything! Once again, congratulations everyone and I wish you all the best of luck in your future plans!" Phoebe concluded with a broad and warm smile. The students clapped and cheered in approval soon after Phoebe finished, which continued as she left the stage and returned to her seat. Principal Crater then stood back up and approached the podium.

"Thank you, Phoebe. Now everyone, it is time to start lining up one row at a time. When you get to Ms. Fields, hand her your name card and she'll hand them to me one by one. When I call your name, come up and get your diploma and then return to your seat. Those in the first row, you can line up now," Mr. Crater delegated, practically acting like the senior class was comprised of nothing but five year olds. And with that, all of the students in the first row stood up and began to walk towards the stage and line up near it. Because the graduating class was rather large, since there were only two high schools in the whole town and each school's senior class was about half of all the seniors, there appeared to be no sense in even attempting to seat everyone in alphabetical order. This was why name cards were put in place to keep track of everyone. The diplomas themselves were put in alphabetical order and laid out on a table on the stage. When a new name card was handed to Ms. Fields, the school's secretary, she would then find the matching diploma and prepare to hand both the certificate and the name card to Mr. Crater. That appeared to be the best possible organizational system and seemed to be working quite well. Because of this, the students had free reign to sit anywhere they wanted.

Helga and Phoebe were in the second row and soon enough, it was their turn to line up. First Phoebe's name was called and then Helga's.

"Helga Geraldine Pataki," the principal read out loud, a hint of disdain in his voice. Helga cringed a bit upon hearing her full name. She knew it was coming but to hear it happening was a different thing altogether.

In response to hearing Helga's middle name, several immature senior boys in the audience could be heard guffawing rather obnoxiously, which ceased as quickly as it began due to a very unamused Helga shaking 'Ol Betsy and growling at the boys. Arnold, who witnessed the whole thing with the rest of his classmates, was in awe of Helga's actions for the second time that day. This was really the first time he had seen Helga really growl and threaten somebody since he had returned from San Lorenzo two years ago but that's as far as that went. It was nice to know that that fire inside her was still there. There was another thing about what just happened that also amused him.

'Huh, so that's what the 'G' stands for. Good to know,' Arnold thought with a small smile, glad to finally know after all those years of wondering.

After the second and third rows were all done, it was time for those in the fourth row to line up. This was the row Gerald and Arnold were in.

"Gerald Martin Johansen," announced the principal. Gerald then got on stage and received his diploma. Before he got off the stage however, he turned to the audience and posed by making finger guns with his hands and clicking his tongue like he was The Fonz or something. Phoebe giggled in response to this. Gerald's little stunt also caused both Arnold and Helga to give an amused smile, roll their eyes, and shake their heads. Neither of them knew they were both doing the same thing. Phoebe was aware of this however, which caused her to giggle even more.

"Oh, sit down already, Gerald!" Principal Crater ordered in annoyance. He was obviously burnt out and done with all these students' shenanigans for one day.

Unfazed, Gerald bowed rather dramatically before he exited the stage, just like Helga did earlier. After an unamused shake of his head, the principal resumed his announcing and diploma-handing duties.

"Arnold Phillip- _SCREECH!_ " Suddenly, loud and harsh feedback that came from the principal's microphone, just as he was about to say to Arnold's last name, resonated through the entire gym and caused practically everyone to cover their ears in pain. The feedback issue was quickly resolved though, which allowed Arnold to then take his diploma and return to his seat.

Several minutes later, all twelve rows of students had returned to their seats after collecting their diplomas. Mr. Crater then motioned for the seniors to stand up and start moving their tassels to the other side of their caps.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you East Hillwood High's Class of-"

"Prepare to get soaked, Crater!" Suddenly, random exclamations were heard among the general audience, interrupting Mr. Crater's announcement. Not long after that, another sound filled the gym in its place. This time it was the sound of a secret compartment in the ceiling suddenly opening, the very one that was made for balloons to come floating out of during school dances. Immediately, balloons did in fact start coming out of that compartment but they were not regular air-filled balloons. They were water balloons. Because the compartment was right above Mr. Crater, the water balloons began to pelt Mr. Crater one by one. Roars of laughter soon filled the air.

"Alright! Who did that?!" Mr. Crater growled, seething with anger. He desperately began wiping his face to help him see for himself who the culprit was. He didn't have to search for long because the prankster decided to reveal themselves soon after.

"Haha. Bullseye! A direct hit!" the prankster laughed, sounding very proud of himself over a job well done. The principal immediately recognized who the voice belonged to and followed the direction where the voice came from.

" _Wolfgang!_ I should have known!" the principal responded angrily with a low growl.

"What's up, Crater?" Wolfgang greeted sarcastically while smirking and waving the hand that was holding a small remote-control device. That was apparently what he used to operate the ceiling compartment to execute his little prank.

"Ok, that's it! I have to get cleaned up now so show's over everyone! You can all leave now…" Mr. Crater exclaimed with a sigh in defeat. And as Principal Crater darted out of the gym while grumbling to himself, the newly graduated East Hillwood High students just looked at each for a second, each of them trying to figure out what to do next. The majority of them just shrugged in response. As if they could all understand everyone's secret looks, most of them just shrugged and then began to throw their caps up in the air as they cheered. Soon, everyone else followed suit.

It was official. High school was finally over.

 **A/N: I seriously don't know where I came up with some of that stuff! I'm insane in the membrane I guess (insane, got no brain! XD). Welp, that's chapter two! What'd ya think? This and the prologue may seem disconnected but that's because some things haven't happened yet. It'll all start making sense probably in chapter 5 or 6, going by what I have planned.**

 **I decided on 'Crater' for the principal's name because I wanted it be something close to Principal Wartz. A crater is a nickname for a zit, which like a wart is also an unwanted skin blemish thingamajig thing!**

 **If you're wondering when chapter 4 will be ready, well I'm wondering the same thing! It will be pretty soon though, hopefully!**


	4. Party Crashers

**A/N: Hey! Sorry for the really long delay. I have been having trouble ending this chapter for some reason and I decided to split it up anyways, like I did with chapter 2. And…it's party time, a post-graduation shindig of sorts.**

 **I have no ownership of anything to do with the creation or rights of "Hey Arnold!". Instead of the real thing, my crazy brain comes up with stuff like this but my inspiration is not my own!**

Chapter 4 – Party Crashers

As the last of the thrown-up caps started to come back down, the group of recent high school graduates broke into a chorus of cheers and excited shouts. Friends hugged each other fiercely, and couples kissed each other with just as much passion, some more passionately than others. Gerald and Phoebe found each other and warmly embraced. He then congratulated her on her speech and surprised her picking her up by the waist and spinning her around. She giggled in delight. They were so wrapped up in the excitement when he slowly lowered her back down to the ground that they suddenly found each other locked in a passionate kiss. It was quite rare to find Gerald and Phoebe breaking their own 'anti-PDA code' that they made together. But this was in fact a rare moment so the situation practically called for it, therefore they made an exception.

When asked countless times about their strange rule against PDA, Gerald and Phoebe told their friends that they decided not to kiss in public that much was because they just didn't like to draw that kind of attention and out of respect. Though that was kind of true, that was just the excuse they gave everyone. Gerald and Phoebe each had a main reason that led them to making such a promise to each other. Each of their reasons was out of respect for someone, though that certain someone was the key difference between the two of them.

Phoebe knew that Helga was unhappy in her relationship with Wolfgang. Helga didn't tell her that she was but she didn't have to. She knew just by looking at Helga's face. Her expression would go from blank to a combination of conflicted and tortured. She had been like this since Arnold returned. Phoebe knew why Helga got into that relationship in the first place, to try to get over Arnold. This was a year after Arnold wrote her and requested to hear about Helga. Phoebe was going to tell Helga about that letter but she was sworn to secrecy, though she would've broken it in a heartbeat if she felt it would've done any good. But she figured that Arnold could've just been asking about Helga just to be curious and that there were no feelings behind it. She didn't want to get Helga's hopes up for nothing. What kind of a friend would she be then? Besides, in the beginning, Helga looked pretty happy with Wolfgang. But then that changed shortly after Arnold returned. It seemed Helga wasn't over him like she thought she was and Phoebe even knew that that cause was quite the hopeless one. Plus, she couldn't explain it but Phoebe thought something else was off about the relationship. She could tell there was something upsetting Helga about her boyfriend but it seemed like Helga didn't even know. Phoebe hoped it was nothing and decided not to intervene unless it was necessary. Besides, Helga was quite stubborn and so long as she was pretending to be content then Phoebe knew she had no choice but to keep up the charade herself until Helga decided to stop.

Not long after the ceremony ended, the students were then able to meet up with their families…

"Phoebe! You were splendid!" Phoebe's father, Kyo, commended heartily as he and his wife, Reba, began walking toward their daughter and her best friend. When he reached his daughter, he put his hands together and bowed, to which Phoebe responded with a bow of her own. Barely a second after Phoebe straightened herself back up, she felt herself being pulled into a massive bear hug courtesy of her mother.

"Oh, my darling Phoebe! We are so proud of you! And what a speech!" Reba exclaimed, praising her daughter's recent accomplishment before letting go.

"Thank you, mother and father," Phoebe thanked her parents. She genuinely beamed from ear to ear.

"Actually," Kyo replied with a chuckle, "I think it's Helga who deserves the gratitude," he explained as he turned to face Helga. "Helga, we thank you for standing up for Phoebe, though I must admit the way you did so may have been a little unnecessary but nonetheless we thank you," Kyo concluded his thanks. He wore a worried smile but his eyes were very kind.

"Well sometimes that's needed, sugar," Reba rationalized, lightly elbowing her husband in the ribs. She showed light disagreement with her husband in her sweet and slightly southern drawl as she gave Helga a knowing wink. Helga grinned in response. She always liked Phoebe's parents. They welcomed her almost as if she were theirs, just like their daughter did.

"Oh, it was nothing really. I-"

"There she is, B!" A female voice from about ten feet away suddenly interrupting Helga's attempt to brush off her actions of standing up to her own senior class, all for Phoebe. The small group looked towards the direction the voice came from, though they all knew who it belonged to. Sure enough, Bob and Miriam Pataki had come to join their daughter. Helga was soon enveloped in a warm hug from her mother. When she let go, Helga felt a strong hand pat her on the back. She turned and saw her father smiling at her.

"Helga, 'ol girl, you uh, made us so happy!" Big Bob praised his daughter, albeit a little awkwardly. He wasn't the most expressive individual, or at least not where Helga was concerned until recent years, so the fact that he was trying to do better meant quite a bit to Helga. And the fact that he used her actual name more frequently was also an added bonus.

"Thanks, Dad," As much as her father felt awkward with self-expression from time to time, Helga felt the same amount of awkwardness when it came to accepting praise, mostly because she hadn't had much experience with receiving it in the past. All that had changed while Helga was in middle school but it still felt kind of novel at times.

…

"Son, we are so proud of you!" Miles praised earnestly as he patted his son on the back.

"Oh, I can't believe it! My baby has graduated high school!" Stella cried out as she grabbed her son and pulled him into a vice grip of a hug.

"Haha! Ease up, Stella or he won't make it to college!" Phil joked, a sly grin on his face.

"Oh…ok…" Stella agreed and then begrudgingly let go of her son.

"Congratulations, Mr. President. Next stop, world domination! Bahahaha!" Gertie cackled madly.

"Thanks, Grandma! I'll get right on that," Arnold replied with a grin, shaking his head in amusement.

"I always knew you could do it, Arnold! Hey, I guess that means I win the pool! Hehehe!" Oskar Kokoshka laughed, quite giddy with his supposed future winnings. His personal celebration was short-lived though.

"Kokoshka, you liar! You wanted to bet against him and nobody wanted to join your stupid pool anyways," Ernie Potts exclaimed and shook his head in obvious disgust.

"You're no good, Oskar! No good!" Mr. Hyunh reprimanded in his thick Vietnamese accent.

"You bet against Arnold?! Why you no good bum, Kokoshka!" Phil exclaimed in annoyance as he started shaking his fist at Oskar.

"Oh, Oskar!" Suzie scolded him. After this long in their marriage though, she hardly batted an eye at this kind of behavior from him anymore.

"Oh, that's right. Well it's a good thing the pool didn't take off. Hehehehe!" Oskar laughed and shrugged the whole thing off while looking around sheepishly.

"Why you low-down, no-good bum!" Ernie shouted, shortly followed by Mr. Hyunh joining in the argument with Oskar clambering to defend himself and then soon the three men could be heard bickering like school children. This would embarrass most teenagers but to Arnold, this was a normal occurrence. He just shook his head in amusement at the sight before him. This didn't go on for too long though, since somebody in the group quickly had enough.

"Will you ninnies knock it off already?!" Phil exclaimed in annoyance, to which that got the attention of the three arguing men and then they quieted down, "There, now that's better," Phil sighed in content but then flashed another annoyed at the men.

"Cheese and crackers, I don't know why we let you all come here with us because we knew you'd cause a scene and sure enough you did! Now I'm tired of being the voice of reason here, especially because there's something wrong with that. I mean, just look who I married," Phil quipped as he tilted a thumb in Gertie's direction. Following Phil's thumb, the group turned and looked at Gertie, who was marching and in the middle of a rousing rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In".

"I rest my case. Now, come on. Let's get out of her before you all start fighting again," Phil said resolutely as he shook his head in amusement then began pushing the male boarders forward, towards the exit.

"Ok, sorry Phil," Ernie apologized, his head low in shame.

"Yes, we are so sorry," Mr. Hyuhn agreed in apology.

"I am so sorry, Grandpa!" Oskar exclaimed sadly.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Phil shook his head in mild annoyance as he waved them off, since it wasn't anything he hasn't heard before from them. He started walking forward again but then something made him stop and turn back to them.

"And stop calling me 'Grandpa'!" Phil griped as he turned and officially started walking away.

…

"Bye, everyone! I'll see you all back home soon,"

"Bye. Have a safe flight! Say 'hi' to Olga for me,"

For just a moment, barely a few seconds actually, Helga and Arnold heard the other and then locked gazes with each other. Each felt caught in the other's eyes for whatever reason. Well, Helga knew the reason clear as the day but Arnold was unable to place it just yet. He decided that he would be content with staring into her deep blue eyes for as long as she let him.

And then, as if Helga was reading Arnold's mind, she instantly tore her eyes from his direction and instead started walking towards Wolfgang.

"I'm glad you came to see me. It means a lot," Helga told her boyfriend as soon as she stood in front of him, a genuine smile on her face. She was trying her best to shake herself out of that odd little staring contest she just had with Arnold.

"Well yeah, and plus I wanted to get the principal back real bad! Did you see that? Haha!"

"Yeah, that was epic! The look on Crater's face? Priceless!" Gerald chimed in with a laugh as he and Phoebe approached the couple, with Arnold trailing behind them since he and Gerald were already in the middle of a conversation.

"Boys…" Phoebe chided jokingly.

Phoebe then came up to hug her best friend, "Oh Helga, we did it!" she gushed happily, "Oh and thank you for what you did for me Helga. I appreciate it!" Phoebe added as she began to end the hug and pulled back to flash her best friend a grateful smile. Helga beamed in response but she still remained pretty neutral about her actions against the majority of the senior class.

"Nah, don't mention it, Phoebs. Like I was trying to tell your parents, it's the least I could do," Helga replied with a shrug.

"Or how about when Helga got back at Crater with that perfect insult!" Gerald noted, still laughing at the memory, which happened not even an hour ago.

"Yeah, that was a really cool thing you did," Arnold stated with a small smile, his tone sincere.

"Really?" Helga asked Arnold, turning her focus to him. Her voice contained a neutral kind of curiosity to it, instead of high amounts of shock out of lovesickness like during her childhood days.

"Yeah," Arnold replied, his grin and his gaze both appearing more serious then, as well as more intoxicating, well at least on Helga's end. Helga's smile grew at that. Internally though, she knew that she had to redirect the spotlight away from herself before anyone else noticed the weird exchange and started getting ideas. She was about to do just that when she heard somebody else getting ready to speak. She even tensed up a bit when she felt an arm pulling her to them.

"That's my girl!" Wolfgang exclaimed with a chuckle. Helga relaxed considerably the moment she realized that Wolfgang didn't notice a thing.

"Ok, ok. That's enough. Somebody change the subject please!" Helga joked with a laugh. Deep down though, Phoebe knew that this amount of attention was making Helga uncomfortable. Sure enough, when they exchanged glances, Phoebe noticed the silent plea in her best friend's blue eyes and knew she was right. Phoebe took that as her cue to intervene.

"So, Helga? I'll see you at Rhonda's party tonight, right?" Phoebe asked politely. Helga didn't seem too thrilled to be reminded of that though.

"Oh yeah, the princess's shindig…forgot all about that. Well, I don't really know. I-"

"What do you mean you 'don't know'? Of course you're going. I'm your plus one, remember?" Wolfgang asked, almost sounding hurt as he lightly jerked Helga towards him with the arm already wrapped around her.

"Ugh, please! It's not like you need me. Rhonda would let you in. In fact, she's been hinting to me for weeks that you were invited too. And she hasn't been very subtle about it either," Helga retorted, chuckling rather darkly at the fact that Rhonda's type was basically any decent looking guy with a pulse.

"Yeah…and that's why I need my Hell Girl, to protect me from that she-wolf!" Wolfgang argued jokingly, pulling Helga even closer to him by the waist. Helga hated that pet name he insisted on using from time to time. Helga was working extra hard to resist the urge to roll her eyes that she didn't notice that her boyfriend's comment actually earned an eye roll from Arnold.

"Oh, alright," Helga gave in half-heartedly with a low chuckle, "We'll both be there. Happy now, Pheebs?"

"Ecstatic!" Phoebe exclaimed happily as she then hugged her best friend.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't crowd me," Helga complained but she gave Phoebe a wink as soon as Phoebe let go of her and leaned back.

'Just what am I getting myself into?' Helga thought with a combination of amusement and dread.

….

Arnold arrived at Rhonda's extravagant house just as the graduation party was really getting started. He still wore what he had underneath his graduation gown, a blue dress shirt and khaki pants. It wasn't long until he found Gerald and Phoebe, who were comfortably chatting with each other in the sitting area at the back of the living room.

"Arnold, my man!" Gerald's warm greeting resounded through the room as he noticed his best bud walking up to them.

"Hey, Gerald! Hey, Phoebe!" Arnold greeted happily. He walked up to Gerald to initiate their traditional thumb-wiggling handshake and that was when he noticed the bottle in Gerald's hand.

'Oh boy, Gerald's hitting the bottle early. This can't be good,' Arnold thought worriedly as he made a mental note to ask him what happened since they left each other at the school's gymnasium.

Before Arnold could get any more concerned about Gerald, he heard voices getting closer to the three of them.

"Hey, Arnold!" the voice called.

"Hey, Stinky. Hey, Sid," Arnold smiled as he turned and greeted the two guys.

"Hey, you just get here?" Sid asked, making conversation.

"Yeah. Did I miss anything?" Arnold asked curiously. There was suddenly a look on Sid's face that indicated he just remembered that there was something of interest that he was itching to spill.

"Not much. Well, except the fact that Harold tried to do a keg stand but nearly broke his neck!" Sid laughed at the recent memory.

"What? Is he ok?" Arnold asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah. His pride is the most injured part of him on accounta he wiped out in front of Patty," Stinky explained, stifling a chuckle.

"Well, so long as he is ok…" Arnold agreed as he drifted off. He started to absentmindedly focus on the entrance, like he was looking for someone. And he was. But it was Stinky who discovered them first.

"Willickers…" Stinky suddenly commented, obviously in awe about something. Sid followed his gaze to see what it was that caught his buddy's attention like that. It wasn't long till he had the same reaction.

"Boy, howdy! Is that who I think it is?" Sid exclaimed in surprise, clearly not believing what he was seeing but it was real alright. Sid was nearly salivating at the display in front of him.

"I do declare she is a vision of loveliness," Stinky replied then gave a sad sigh, "If only she wasn't taken…" Stinky added, a forlorn look on his face at that last thought.

"Yeah…hey, speaking of which, we better cool it, Stinky. If Wolfgang catches us staring at his girl, he might not pound us but let's not risk it!" Sid explained with a shaky laugh. He was clearly getting anxious.

It was the mentioning of Wolfgang that made Arnold officially turn around. He immediately understood why Sid and Stinky were making such a fuss. There she was. The sight of Helga G. Pataki in that moment nearly took his breath away.

Helga's long hair was worn down in her natural wavy style. Helga was wearing her own version of the 'little black dress', something that Rhonda swore up and down about how it should be a staple in every girl's closet. Arnold stifled a chuckle in the memory of that conversation he overheard in the school hallway a few months ago, as well as Helga's evident disdain about the thought of even wearing a dress and yet there she was in a dress!

Helga wore a spaghetti strapped dress that hung straight and stopped at her knees. It had vertical ruffles in the front and a black silk bow attached to the middle chest area. Finishing off her look was a pair of simple, black high heels with a black bow on each ankle strap.

As Wolfgang wandered off to laugh and high-five his buddies, Helga walked in the opposite direction of him, towards Arnold to be exact as she went to greet Phoebe and Gerald. She noticed that Arnold was nearby so she was planning to at least wave at him. However, the second she turned around to do just that, she realized that Arnold was no longer at the spot he stood at mere moments ago. She had no idea where he went. After a few brief seconds of confusion, Helga shrugged it off and turned back to answer something Phoebe asked her. She figured that she would run into Arnold at some point during the night's festivities.

 **A/N: Once again, chapter 5 will be the second half to chapter 4 so it will pick up from there. Hope you enjoyed this update. Not sure when I can update again. Things are pretty crazy right now. I've been going through some difficult things this summer and soon I will find out if it was all worth it…or not.**


	5. ANNOUNCEMENT

This is an announcement, not a chapter update.

Hello.

First off, I'm sorry for the delay in getting the next chapter out. I'm sure nobody is happy about having to wait. And now you all are really going to hate me...I got some bad news. I'm not sure how but all the files on one of my flash drives are now gone. That specific flash drive had all of my fanfiction drafts and now that they are gone I have to rewrite chapter 5...and all my plans for a bunch of the future chapters are gone too...Since I don't know when I'll have the time to do this, I have no choice but to discontinue this story (again) for the time being. I'm really sorry everyone but I can't do anything about this now. I will try to continue this at some point but I need to focus on school. I feel horrible about this...

Till we meet again,

Livyloozer


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